


Soulmate Business

by golden_kimono



Category: Jrock, the GazettE
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And Reita's good at annoying him, Aromantic Aoi, As is Kai, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, He likes sex though, Kai just likes soulmates okay??, Kaolu's just cackling from the sidelines, M/M, Mature rating for smut later on, Mention of Aoi/Kai, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Where Ruki is in denial, Will add more tags next time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:27:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_kimono/pseuds/golden_kimono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there's one thing Ruki never wanted, it was to find his soulmate. When he does, he's fully intent on pretending it never happened and on continuing on with life happily without him. But when his soulmate merely shrugs and accepts this, Ruki can't help but be annoyed and, even more annoyingly, completely intrigued.</p><p>OR:</p><p>The Reituki soulmate AU where Ruki tries so hard to resist fate he falls into its trap head over heels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soulmate Business

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tantrumtae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tantrumtae/gifts).



> This was meant to be for Laura's birthday, but I didn't get the chance to finish it (also, it kind of got away from me and grew a life of its own). It's still not finished (this will be either two or three parts), but here's the first bit! Not much Reituki interaction in the first part, I'm afraid, but we'll get there. Written because I'm a sucker for soulmate AUs.

Ruki grunted as he stomped over to the garage next door, hating how Kai’s puppy eyes always got to him. Sneaky bastard. At least it was dry – though for the thirty seconds he was without cover, he supposed it didn’t truly matter either way. Still, he would’ve been much grumpier if he’d have had to get his shoes wet, as well as the bottom of his pants, because somehow they always dragged through the puddles and, frankly, it pissed him off.

It was all Kai’s fault, really: he’d started baking pancakes, and after he’d already started mixing the batter, a sheepish smile had been thrown in Ruki’s direction. Ruki had eyed him warily from where he was scribbling in his notebook and then Kai had told him there was no more oil left, and could Ruki please pick some up from the garage? He’d do it himself, but he was already mixing and he didn’t want to leave it (and undoubtedly didn’t trust Ruki to do so, although he could easily take care of something as simple as this, thank you very much; the microwave incident was completely unrelated).

The little bell above the door jingled when Ruki stepped inside. He winced slightly at the noise and at the realisation that he was the only one there, promptly receiving a friendly nod from the cashier – who, for some unknown reason, was wearing a piece of cloth over his nose. Pursing his lips so he wouldn’t laugh at this person’s questionable fashion choices, seeing how it wasn’t actually any of his business, Ruki grabbed a bottle of sunflower oil off the shelf, not even bothering to consider whether it was the right kind or not. He really just wanted to get back home, get comfortable, eat some pancakes (if Kai weren’t such an amazing cook, Ruki might have attempted to resist his begging a bit longer) and then continue writing. After weeks of writer’s block, he was finally inspired again and he intended to take full advantage of this.

He smiled politely as he plonked the oil on the counter and reached for his wallet.

“Who won the match?”

After a moment’s pause, Ruki looked at the cashier with the dreadful fashion (the nose cloth was bad enough, but he was wearing _a flowery t-shirt_?), his confusion no doubt written all over his face. What on earth was he on about?

“You know,” the cashier continued, sounding a little less sure of himself now, “the football match. It just finished, right?”

Ah, right. Football. Further down the road – the opposite way from the garage – was a football stadium. They’d had the window open and had been able to hear the cheers and of course they’d seen people head towards the stadium (rather, Kai had and had commented on it; he actually liked football, though he didn’t support the local team), but that was pretty much the extent of Ruki’s knowledge. He shrugged one shoulder and put some money on the counter.

“Dunno, I don’t really care about football.” When the cashier jolted and stared at him with immense shock, Ruki’s eyes shifted from side to side. He knew people could be into their sports, but had he greatly offended this guy by pointing out he didn’t give a shit? “Sorry,” he added quickly, not wanting to appear rude. 

The cashier stared at him a bit longer, then finally got back in motion and scanned the bottle of oil, though his hands were slightly shaking while he took the money Ruki had handed him, his eyes flickering over to Ruki a few times, his gaze curious and baffled.

Part of Ruki wanted to ask what the fuck this guy’s problem was, but a much, much larger part just wanted to go home and tell Kai to go here himself from now on. He held out his hand for his change, cocking his eyebrows as if to say ‘well?’.

“Ah, sorry…” the cashier mumbled. He ran a hand through his hair, still appearing utterly confused. “I just- I thought-” He took a deep breath, forced a smile on his face and placed Ruki’s change before him. “It’s… It doesn’t matter, sorry. Here you go, have a nice day!”

Ruki nodded cautiously, offered a swift smile, then snatched up his change and purchase and got out of there as fast as possible. He definitely wasn’t returning there again any time soon; that had been much too weird.

“Here,” he said gruffly when he got home, shoving the bottle into Kai’s hands. “This better be right, because I’m not going back.”

Kai inspected the bottle as though it held the secrets of the universe, then nodded in satisfaction. “It will do!” he said cheerily, pouring the oil into a pan. He must’ve seen some of Ruki’s discomfort on his face, for he furrowed his eyebrows in concern, switching his attention between the pancakes and his roommate skilfully. “Did something happen?”

“Fucking weird guy was working there,” Ruki sighed, flopping down on the settee and picking up his notebook once more. “He asked me who won the football match, then stared at me like I’d grown a few extra heads when I told him I had no clue. I’ll never understand the obsession: I love art, but you don’t see me gasping for breath when someone says they don’t listen to music or whatever.”

When Kai took some time to respond, Ruki glanced over at him, only to see his friend gape at him with wide eyes, not unlike noseband guy. Sighing in annoyance, he threw up his hands, wondering if everyone had lost their minds or if it was just him. “What?!”

“Ruki…” Kai practically glided over to him and sank down beside him, his eyes filled with wonder as he reached for Ruki’s hands. “I think you found your soulmate.”

Ruki scoffed and pulled his hands from Kai’s grasp. “Piss off.”

“No, I mean it!” Kai was positively excited now, a small, tentative grin on his face. “What were his _exact_ words?”

“I don’t know… ‘Who won the match’?”

Kai made a noise in the back of his throat and gestured for Ruki to turn around. “Let me see, let me see!!”

“No,” Ruki said bluntly, folding his arms and pointedly looking the other way when Kai whined and tried the puppy eyes again. “Besides, you know how I feel about soulmates. And, honestly, if that idiot is indeed mine, I’m even more against the idea.”

Many, perhaps most, though not all people were born with words on their skin. These words represented the first words their soulmate would speak to them. The concept was used in love songs, featured in many dramas, was promoted by the media, and from what he remembered from high school, nearly everyone had been obsessed with it and had wanted to find their soulmate as soon as possible, acting like they’d just conquered the nation when they had their encounter.

Ruki hated it.

For multiple reasons, really, but mainly because he felt it was ridiculous and unfair that someone’s fate was determined at birth, or sometimes later, and he firmly believed it went entirely against free will. Once, when he was younger, he had ranted about the injustice of it towards ace and poly people, though he had later learned that some people never got words on them and others had more than one set. Even so, finding his soulmate was something he had always hoped to avoid.

His own words were on his back. He hadn’t really paid attention to them when he was little, not fully understanding what soulmates were, and by the time he got it, he had lost all interest. In fact, more than once he had asked tattoo artists to cover up the words, but although they were all more than happy to ink the rest of his skin, they flat-out refused to touch that part of it, as though the sentence was something sacred, something that should be treasured. Bullshit, if you asked him.

Of course people still dated as they waited to meet their soulmate, and some never met theirs at all, instead marrying someone else – or no one at all, forever clinging to the hope that their soulmate would randomly appear to whisk them away into the sunset. And, even if soulmates did meet, there was no guarantee things would work out for them. They might not like each other, one of them might be abusive, they might even have already fallen in love with someone, or something else might get in the way. It was like the cruellest of lotteries. Add the fact that the words could be awfully unhelpful, something like: “Can I borrow a pencil?” or “Welcome to [restaurant]!” – generic stuff you’d hear multiple times in your life, with generic responses that didn’t help in the search. Apparently the words were meant to change colour when you’d found each other, but people would still get that spark of hope – not to mention that the change in colour could be very subtle, say from black to a navy blue, and unless you were properly paying attention, you might even miss it. Like Ruki.

Ruki knew that Kai had been born with his soulmate’s words on his foot, then one day they had vanished. This happened when someone’s soulmate passed away before they could meet and it tended to be a highly painful experience, often regarded with pity. Kai had brooded for quite some time, upset at the thought that something had been taken from him before he’d even had a chance to experience it. It had also made him more excited at the prospect of other people being more successful.

Which is why Ruki could understand Kai’s eagerness, yet this didn’t mean he’d give in to Kai’s pouting. Or at least not immediately. In the end, he sighed and lifted up his shirt, Kai’s squeal telling him everything he needed to know.

“Fantastic,” Ruki sighed as he tugged his shirt back down. “I guess that explains why he stared at me: he probably wondered why I wasn’t falling at his feet.” Of course his soulmate was someone who actually believed in all this crap rather than someone who would willingly join him in a boycott.

“At least you know,” Kai said quietly, sadly.

Ruki’s expression softened and he squeezed Kai’s knee gently. “Maybe… Maybe your soulmate is still out there. Maybe they got in accident and lost the ability to speak.” It had been an offhand comment, simply meant to cheer Kai up a little, yet they both froze, then looked at each other, Ruki’s eyes narrowed in contemplation, Kai’s wide in realisation. Now there was an option no one had ever considered, yet it didn’t seem entirely unlikely.

“Oh my god,” Kai whispered, “what if that’s it?!”

“Then this soulmate shit is even more disgusting,” Ruki replied, curling his lip. “It doesn’t even take into consideration people who can’t speak – who can’t hear!”

Before he could continue his rant, the fire alarm went off, making both of them jump. Kai gasped and ran into the kitchen with such speed it was like _he_ was on fire.

“The pancakes!!”

**

“No!” Ruki hissed, digging his feet into the ground and nearly making Kai trip up as he had been holding his arm and was consequently jerked backwards. Ruki had avoided the garage ever since the incident, but it had been weeks now and he had stupidly nodded when, on their way home, Kai had asked if they could stop by to pick up a few things he’d forgotten. Once they’d neared, Ruki had caught sight of the cashier through the window and remembered exactly why he hadn’t been here in so long. “That’s _him_ , I’m not going in there. No. Kai, let me go, I swear to FUCK!”

“Yes, yes, to fuck and to buggery and to all those other charming deities,” Kai replied, rolling his eyes, though he did stop. “Look, I know you don’t want to see him, and I promise I won’t make you if you genuinely don’t want to – it’s not like I knew he’d be here today – but your yelling has kind of made him notice us.”

Ruki looked up and indeed, his mysterious, unwanted soulmate was gazing straight at them through the window. He seemed flustered and quickly busied himself with something else when he caught Ruki’s eye, clearly embarrassed at being caught.

“I don’t care,” Ruki said brusquely. “If he sees me leave, he might get the hint.” He made to turn away, but Kai had a firm hold on his sleeve and a deeply disappointed look on his face.

“You think this soulmate stuff is bullshit, and I respect that, especially because I can see where you’re coming from. But do you really think it’s fair to him, when he might have been waiting for you, to just disappear without a word, leaving him doubtful and confused? You could at least tell him you’re not interested, then he can move on.”

That… sounded sensible. And very fishy, especially after the whole ‘I won’t make you speak to him’ spiel. Narrowing his eyes, he regarded Kai suspiciously. “You’re hoping we’ll fall in love, aren’t you?”

Kai shrugged sheepishly, but Ruki merely sighed and contemplated his options. Unfortunately, since they didn’t live in a big city, the garage was one of the only nearby shops that was open all the time. Also unfortunately, they needed it a lot, and although Kai hadn’t complained about going on his own, he occasionally left for a few days to visit his family, and what if Ruki needed something from there then? Even if he didn’t, did he really want to avoid this place over something as dumb as fate or whatever you wanted to call it?

Perhaps, if he could explain himself, that could help. They could both be adults about this and… well, move on, exactly as Kai had said.

“Whatever,” Ruki mumbled, shrugging off Kai’s hands and stepping into the shop, meeting his soulmate’s eyes almost defiantly. He had wished to be suave, but instead he merely blurted out: “I’m not going to date you.”

“Ah…” The guy looked nervous and unsure, and glanced over at Kai who had walked in behind Ruki quickly, as though hoping for some kind of explanation.

“What the hell, Ruki,” Kai whispered urgently. Then he returned the stranger’s gaze and smiled winningly, leaving the guy looking slightly dazed; apart from the puppy eyes, Kai’s smile was one of his greatest weapons (and if all else failed, he was positively _terrifying_ when he was angry, which was luckily a rare sight). “I’m sorry, he wasn’t raised like normal people.” He gasped softly when Ruki’s elbow dug into his side. “What he meant to say is: yes, you’re soulmates, but he’s too hipster to accept it.”

Much to Ruki’s annoyance, the stranger snorted. Retaliating, Ruki pinched Kai’s arm, receiving a brief squeak and a silent promise in the form of glare that he’d regret this action later. Whatever, Ruki had more pressing matters to deal with right now. “I’m _not_ a hipster,” he grumbled, adjusting his large glasses self-consciously when two pairs of eyes focused on them immediately. “It’s called fashion,” he snapped. “Though I guess _you_ don’t know what that is.”

“Wow, you’re really hitting me where it hurts,” the stranger said in a deadpan voice. He raised his eyebrows at Kai and nodded over at Ruki with a jerk of his head. “Any chance this soulmate business is a mistake?”

“It’s not,” Kai replied with a sigh, as though he wished it were, making Ruki’s eye twitch at the hypocrisy of it all. “But you must already know that.”

“My nose hasn’t stopped itching,” the guy answered, scratching at his noseband absent-mindedly. “His words are across my face and after the colour changed, it’s been hell. Like it’s not bad enough that I have to cover myself up half the time.”

At least that explained the noseband.

Kai made a sympathetic noise. “I’m sorry, that must be hard…”

“Try going through high school like this,” the guy stated with a shake of his head.

As Ruki watched their interaction, all he could think was: why couldn’t _these two_ be soulmates? They certainly seemed to have hit it off already, while Ruki was growing increasingly bored. “Weren’t we meant to buy stuff?” he said loudly, interrupting whatever Kai had been rambling about. This wasn’t mean to take long, and in Ruki’s view, he had done his bit so he was ready to go home now.

“Oh, right!” Kai moved further into the store, waving his hand at the cashier. “You two have fun, I’ll be back in a minute!”

As if the shop was at all large enough that they couldn’t spot his dark head bobbing through the aisles. Rolling his eyes, Ruki returned his attention to his apparent soulmate, looking him up and down slowly. Underneath those clothes, his body might actually be very attractive: he had a strong build, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, reminding Ruki somewhat of a triangle, though he couldn’t say it was entirely unappealing. His face was kind of cute, or, well, what he could see of it, at least. And Kai liked him (Kai liked everyone).

“I’m Reita, by the way.”

Ruki blinked and looked into the other’s – Reita’s – hawk-like eyes. They were doing introductions now? Hadn’t he made himself clear? Had Kai’s kindness provided him with false hope? 

“…This is the part where you say your name,” Reita prompted kindly when Ruki remained quiet.

“I don’t think so.”

A deep, exasperated sigh came from between Reita’s thin lips. “Dude, I’m not asking for your hand in marriage. You don’t like soulmates, whatever, I won’t force you to change your mind. But, seeing how we’ve actually met and all, I just think it’d be nice to at least know your name. This whole thing has been anticlimactic enough as it is.”

Sniffing, Ruki crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes pensively. He weighed the pros and cons, but, to be fair, Reita already knew what he looked like and must know he lived in the neighbourhood, so he figured it couldn’t really do any harm. Plus, if this story came up later (and knowing Kai, it _would_ come up later), it would be immensely less interesting if their conversation were this limited. And the thought of sharing his name and then taking off gave off an air of mystery he rather enjoyed: just enough interaction to be memorable. “Ruki.” He breathed out through his nose and flipped his hair back as he attempted a casual stance. “My name is Ruki.”

“Alright, _Ruki_ ,” it sounded almost mocking from Reita’s mouth, “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but, to be honest, it’s really not.” That elicited a surprised laugh from Ruki. Honesty. He appreciated that. “Since I’m guessing I won’t see you again, can I at least know why you’re so against soulmates? You know, apart from the hipster thing.”

From somewhere in the back, Kai released a long, suffering groan, followed by a whine that sounded suspiciously like “noooooooo!”. Ruki brushed off his friend’s reaction and squared his shoulders before looking Reita straight in the eye.

“Humans pride themselves on their free will, their power to do whatever they want, yet soulmates completely take this away from us. I’ve seen happy, healthy relationships fall apart because someone’s soulmate appeared and they’d rather risk unhappiness with a stranger than continue with somebody they already care for. Some people don’t even _meet_ their soulmate, so really, what’s the point? And then there are some who do and end up hating them. And don’t even get me started on people who can’t hear or speak, or people whose words disappear over time, leaving them stranded because, I don’t know, their soulmate _died_ randomly-”

“Wouldn’t fate know that would happen?” Reita asked uncertainly, apparently not having looked into this thing as deeply as Ruki had.

“Exactly what I mean!” Ruki threw up his hands, truly on fire now. “Fate knows fuck all! How can it say ‘hey, here, we’ve given you a soulmate you’ll never meet, and it’s your fate to meet but also your fate not to’? Or ‘we’ve given you a soulmate, but surprise: we’ve changed our mind’? If it’s fate for soulmates to be together, then why does it mess up?!”

“My grandparents were soulmates and truly happy together,” Reita replied with a shrug. “Maybe the people you’re talking about are the exceptions that prove the rule?”

Ruki’s eye twitched. “That saying doesn’t even make sense!”

“Why not? It means-”

“I _know_ what it means!” Ruki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pursing his lips when he looked over at Reita again, who was grinning widely, an amused glint in his eyes. “What?!”

“Nothing, just… I’ve met people who were unsure about soulmates, but you’re the first one who’s been this passionate about it. I…” He shrugged and smiled. “I guess I see your point. Maybe the soulmate thing is more of a push instead of it being set in stone. Like… If you meet this person, there’s a reason for it, but it might not be romantic. If you don’t, well… so be it, no harm done. Society is what’s making us believe we need to jump into a relationship without even thinking about it.”

Ruki didn’t like this. Either Reita genuinely agreed with him, which would ironically make him the perfect soulmate and Ruki could kind of see why they’d be shoved together. Or, a more likely option, Reita was pulling his leg because he hoped it would make him more appealing and would tempt Ruki into agreeing to a relationship after all.

The bell jingled and another customer entered the garage, stopping briefly to stare at Reita and Ruki standing so close together – when the hell had that happened anyway? – and then Reita was stepping away and back to his position behind the till. Kai shuffled towards them, his arms full (‘a few things’; yeah, right). Ruki shifted awkwardly, the wind having been taken out of his sails due to Reita’s reaction to his dismissal. There was no fight? No protest? Just… acceptance and understanding? Instead of this making him happy, as it really should, it made him bristle. Stupid, worthless soulmate crap.

“Listen, Ruki…” Ah, there it was. “I appreciate what you’re saying and I just want you to know you really don’t have to avoid this place anymore, which… I guess you have been doing, judging by what I heard earlier. I promise I’ll leave you be.” What?

He never got the chance to say anything, his jaw seemingly glued shut at first, and then he was being ushered outside by Kai, who had shoved some bags into his hands, while Reita called out ‘see you around!’ from behind them, sounding completely unbothered.

This was completely unacceptable.

**

When he first expressed his frustrations to his friend Kaolu, Kaolu merely chuckled into his coffee and said teasingly: “Sounds like _someone_ has a crush.”

“Unless that someone is you, I think you should shut up right now,” Ruki grunted, scowling, chugging down a few sips of his own drink. Asshole. “It’s just- When he first heard me, he was all _flustered_ , and then when I told him I wanted nothing to do with him, he acted like it was no big deal!”

A choking sound came from Kaolu when he laughed and drank at the same time. He took a moment to catch his breath and shook his head fondly. “Oh, Ruki… Please listen to yourself: wouldn’t it hurt his pride more to reject your rejection?”

“But he accepted it so readily!” Well aware that he was being absolutely childish, Ruki nonetheless couldn’t help himself. This was not at all how he had imagined the situation to go. In his head, Reita had argued, and Ruki had remained breezy and left with a swish of his hair as Reita sank to the ground and grasped at his heart. So perhaps he was a little melodramatic; sue him. “Shouldn’t he have tried to convince me at least a little?”

“I’m guessing he knew you had no interest when you avoided him for ages,” Kaolu responded with a shrug. A devilish smirk spread across his face, making Ruki’s heart sink. “Interesting, though, that you wish he’d fight for you when, really, the Ruki I know would’ve been nothing but relieved by this outcome. Perhaps there’s something to this soulmate business after all, hm?”

Refusing to dignify this with an answer, Ruki stubbornly looked to the side and drank from his coffee some more, noting with some regret that in his efforts not to speak he’d gone through the drink much faster than he had intended. This place was far too expensive for him to waste his money on a cup he hadn’t even been able to enjoy; stupid Kaolu.

“I must say,” Kaolu mused from across the table, “I commend this Reita.” He smiled innocently when Ruki’s head snapped back towards him. “What? He’s in your head. All he had to do was agree with you, and here you are, questioning everything. Well done, stranger, well done.”

“I don’t question my standpoint on this shit,” Ruki grunted, realising with some chagrin that Kaolu had a point in that Ruki now actually _wanted_ to know Reita, or at least wanted Reita to want to know _him_. Ruki had wished to be the one to incite intrigue, yet Reita had managed to do this so much better than him. Dickhead.

Kai liked him, though. He hadn’t stopped going to the garage – not that Ruki wanted or expected him to – and Reita apparently always had a chat with him, after which Kai would return home chattering about how _funny_ Reita was, how _kind_ , how _easy to talk to_. Then he’d always throw Ruki a look of – regret? sadness? pity? – and bite his lip and lower his head. Ruki suspected him of crushing on Reita and feeling guilty about it or of trying to get Ruki to see what he was missing out on. Like there was anything to miss. (He had liked his bluntness about not particularly liking him, though; he didn’t much like it when people sucked up to him for no reason, preferring them to be real.)

He lasted all of eight days after his conversation with Kaolu before he returned to the garage, a scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face due to the cold weather that had appeared out of nowhere. He hated giving in, which was exactly what this felt like, even though it had been quite some time since he’d last been here and he felt he’d come across much better if he kept up an air of nonchalance. To his disappointment, or relief, Reita wasn’t actually there. Instead, it was some guy with black hair and a lip piercing, who looked up from his magazine when he heard Ruki step inside and nodded lazily in greeting.

Ruki cursed himself for his idiocy: of course Reita didn’t work there daily. According to Kai, he was hired for the weekends and occasionally filled in for his colleagues when needed. Not like he really paid attention or anything. Now slightly lost, he grabbed a random candy bar from the shelves and paid for it. It was only when he stepped outside, the bar clutched in his fist, that he realised it contained peanuts. He didn’t even like peanuts.

He also definitely didn’t like dumb soulmates with nosebands and goofy grins.

**

Day seventeen was a Saturday. Weekend. Kai was meeting up with some friends and Ruki intended to stay at home and write, practically overflowing with inspiration. Although he worked as a tattoo artist by day, he also enjoyed writing, had even published two books of poetry to date. Mostly, he uploaded his stuff online and he liked to think he was fairly popular. That was a lie: he _was_ quite popular and had toyed with the idea of setting up a Patreon account more than once after some of his online readers had suggested it to him, with a promise to definitely support him that way. He felt uneasy at the thought of it, though, worried it would fail dramatically; plus, he was content with the way things were right now. Mostly.

He was in the midst of scribbling about a beautiful boy with black feline eyes and secrets written on his skin when his hand cramped up and, hissing softly, he released his pen. He flexed his fingers a few times, grimacing at the claw shape they had taken on and seeing Kai’s disapproving frown in his mind’s eye. Not that his roommate could judge: he was known to work till he collapsed (“That happened _once_!” he’d gripe whenever this was brought up), yet he was always concerned about Ruki and tried to get him to take breaks.

Ruki stretched, his shoulders and back cracking as the muscles readjusted. His sight was slightly blurry from having been too close to his notebook for too long and he rubbed his eyes as he grabbed his phone, tapping the screen to check the time. A surprised huff left him when he realised he had been writing for hours now, which would explain the state of his body. As if it had been waiting for this moment, his stomach rumbled loudly to alert him to the fact that breakfast had been far too long ago (and far too little).

After preparing some ramen and sternly telling his stomach that it would just have to be satisfied with this as he wasn’t in the mood to eat something with more sustenance – Kai would most likely take care of that once he got home tonight – he sat down by the window and gazed outside as he slurped up the noodles. He stared blankly at someone walking their dog, barely tasting the – admittedly bland – food and finally understanding why Kai always insisted on adding eggs and spring onions and god knows what else to it.

Kai and Ruki had met shortly after high school, introduced to each other by a mutual friend. They had both been struggling to find a place to live, rent being high and homes sparse, and then they’d found a place together, small, but with two bedrooms and the price very much affordable divided by two. Initially, Ruki hadn’t been too sure if he wanted a roommate, liking the idea of his privacy, but then Kai had offered to cook most of the time and who was Ruki to turn down such an offer? Out of everyone he could’ve lived it, he was actually quite happy it was Kai: he knew when to leave Ruki alone and when to approach him, and he was excellent at looking over him from a distance, for instance through tucking a blanket around him whenever he fell asleep on the settee or through leaving lunches out for him in the morning, insisting they were made with leftovers even though Ruki could rarely recognise anything from the night before.

That didn’t mean they never fought or argued: being in close quarters makes it hard to avoid and their personalities clashed sometimes. Yet, Ruki was fairly sure he wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long with anyone else – and no one else would’ve lasted as long with him. Kai and he were just similar enough to understand certain things about each other. And, really, Ruki would be lying if he said he’d never thought of dating Kai, soulmates be damned, but he knew very well that, although their friendship worked perfectly well, a relationship would spell out disaster.

Once he’d dumped his empty bowl in the sink, figuring he’d wash up later, he rubbed his fingers together, feeling oddly restless. He searched his jacket for the packet of cigarettes he had in there, then deflated when he found it empty. That was one thing Kai never bought for him, always claiming he refused to aid his addiction, and a fruitless look through the flat later – he’d even crawled on his belly to see if anything might be hiding under his bed, but all he’d found was a dirty sock that wasn’t even his – he gave up and flopped onto his back on the floor. A frown marred his features at the realisation he’d have to go out. To the garage. Of course he could walk further, but he refused to be forced into physical exercise by some guy he’d spoken to _twice_. He’d been back to the garage more often, of course, usually encountering the piercing guy he now had a nod routine with (the ‘hey, what’s up’ nod, also known as the Nod of Recognition), though no Reita. However, it was now a Saturday. And one thing he knew with absolute certainty was that Reita worked on Saturdays.

Scoffing loudly, Ruki climbed to his feet and shoved a beanie over his unbrushed hair, stuck his arms in his jacket and slipped into his shoes, grabbing his wallet and keys before stepping outside. He needed those cigarettes, badly, and he’d get them, awkward conversation or not. So what if Reita were there? They were adults. They could handle it. And if Ruki practiced his ‘I give no fucks’ expression in the mirror before leaving, well, no one ever needed to know.

It wasn’t as though he had a crush on Reita, no matter what Kaolu said. This wasn’t even denial: Ruki genuinely had no such feelings towards the other man. Sure, he was attractive and he didn’t seem like an awful person, but Jesus, if Ruki crushed on everyone who fit those criteria (sometimes he thought he kind of did), he’d go mad. No, the entire thing was actually much worse: _Ruki_ had wanted to be the aloof one, the one who shrugged and went about his day without a care in the world. And, okay, he hadn’t wanted Reita to be heartbroken or anything – he wasn’t completely horrible – and hadn’t _truly_ assumed Reita would be pining after him, it was just… He had been thrown for a loop here. And he didn’t appreciate that. He also didn’t appreciate the fact that Reita had been so much less _bothered_ than him, hadn’t gotten _angry_ , hadn’t even seemed _disappointed_ , for that matter. It was as though Ruki had lost a battle he hadn’t even realised existed until Reita had told him he’d ‘leave him be’, and call him childish (which he undoubtedly was), but it was annoying, damn it.

He shoved open the door to the garage with more force than necessary and flinched when it hit the wall with a loud ‘bang’. When Reita’s head shot up from where he was reading a book behind the till, his eyes wide, Ruki quickly schooled his face into a neutral expression and raised his eyebrows as though asking him if there was a problem.

“Just a pack of those blue ones, thanks,” he mumbled, nodding over to the cigarettes he wanted and already slamming his money down on the counter.

“No Kai today?” Reita asked casually as he placed his book aside and grabbed the pack Ruki had asked for, holding it up to make sure it was the right one.

Ruki grunted, then sighed because that was really just no answer at all and he was trying to be _cool_ , damn it, so cool he would be. He leaned on the counter, inspecting his fingernails and making a mental note to get them touched up soon. Perhaps something green and silver might be nice, but he wasn’t sure just yet. “He’s with friends.”

“Ah,” Reita nodded in understanding as he scanned Ruki’s purchase, “and you don’t have any.”

“What- I so do have friends, what are you-” He narrowed his eyes when Reita burst out laughing, catching on at last. “You think you’re funny, do you?”

“Sorry, that was just too easy,” Reita said with a completely unapologetic grin as he finished up the transaction. “Anyway, you’re friends with Kai, so I guess you can’t be too bad.”

Ruki’s eye twitched in annoyance. He hated being judged by the people around him: when he was younger, it had been his brother, older and apparently infinitely cooler, and he was just the little kid who ‘followed him around’, judged at first, accepted later on. Now, apparently, it was Kai. “Maybe he has shitty taste in friends,” Ruki grumbled, only slightly bitter.

“Everything okay out here?” a new voice drawled when someone came out from the back. So piercing guy worked Saturdays too… Ruki nodded at him, feeling lighter when the other man returned the nod. See, if only Reita were more like him – even though nothing was actually wrong with Reita, he’d probably actually genuinely like him if it weren’t for these words permanently etched on their skin.

“Just joking around, don’t worry about it,” Reita said dismissively.

Piercing guy looked between them curiously and while Ruki wondered why he hadn’t left yet, his eyes lit up in understanding. “This is your soulmate!”

And that was his cue to go. “Well, I’m off,” Ruki stated gruffly, snatching his cigarettes from the counter and then quickly making his way back home, ignoring Reita’s goodbye and then the two employees’ loud whispers, undoubtedly talking about him. He knew it wasn’t odd – after all, there were few people who turned their soulmate down before even giving them a chance, so of course people would be curious – but it was still rude, wasn’t it? Why had Reita even told him?

Inspiration gone, Ruki spent the rest of the day lounging and staring at nothing on TV, his cigarettes nearly gone by the time Kai returned home later that night and scolded him for smoking indoors again.

**

“Hey, I’m sorry about the other day.”

Ruki lifted one eyebrow when piercing guy addressed him. He had contemplated not returning ever again, but the need for cigarettes had been greater than ever lately. That, and he was just tired of actively avoiding this place by now. Even _not_ doing something could be absolutely exhausting. Besides, he still didn’t know what to make of Reita: he equal parts intrigued and deterred him, and although he had long given up on figuring out why, he nonetheless wanted it to stop. Life would simply be so much simpler if he had nothing but neutral feelings towards him, which had been his wish for this entire deal from the start.

“You know…” The guy shifted uncomfortably and wet his lips like he was nervous. Good. “I don’t always think before I speak,” he began to explain, ignoring how Ruki was pointedly staring at the cigarettes he had asked for. Most employees didn’t even speak to their customers except for what was strictly necessary, so what on earth was wrong with the guys working in this place, wanting to make conversation all the time? Ruki had so not signed up for this when he started with the Nods.

“Reita told me off, but, I don’t know, you have to admit it’s a little unusual.” He grinned sheepishly, winningly, making Ruki roll his eyes, both at his attempt at an excuse and at himself for wishing to accept it.

“It’s whatever,” he mumbled, leaning on the counter when he realised he might not be getting his stuff any time soon. “Everyone’s obsessed with meeting their other half and I never got it, so I understand.” Not really, but he supposed that if Kai seemed baffled at Ruki’s lack of interest despite having known him for so long and so well, it was no surprise others would be confused – even though it was none of their business.

The cashier hummed and leaned on the counter as well, inspecting Ruki’s face so intently it was starting to make him uncomfortable. Then he grinned. “It’s kind of nice to find someone who doesn’t let their life be dictated by it,” he confessed, pushing away to finally grab Ruki’s cigarettes. “I don’t have anything written on me and people like to treat me like some freak of nature; at least you probably won’t.”

Now that was interesting. Ruki had probably met more people like him before, but none of them had ever spoken about it this openly, or at least not this easily. “Lucky you,” Ruki sighed, not sure if he meant it or not. “My friends keep telling me I should give Reita a chance,” they hadn’t mentioned it in a while, “but I really don’t want to be forced into it.” That much was true.

“Reita’s a cool guy, you could’ve done worse,” the cashier stated, no hint of malice or judgement in his voice. “He’s left you alone, right?”

Ruki nodded, realising it didn’t bother him as much anymore. Either that or he’d learned to tune it out, but he brushed that thought aside. “I’m Ruki, by the way,” he said as he pulled out his wallet, blinking when the other man smirked.

“I know, Reita told me.” Of course. “My name’s Aoi.” He watched as Ruki took the package off the counter and bowed lightly as he went to leave. “Tell Kai I said hi.”

Ruki was sure he could hear snickering when he stumbled over his own feet.

“What’s going on with you and Aoi?” he demanded as soon as he stepped into the living room.

Kai looked at him over his book, glasses perched on his nose, his hair wet and fluffy like he’d just gotten out the shower. His brows were furrowed and he remained silent for a moment while Ruki swore at his coat which just would not come off properly. “…What?”

A relieved sigh left Ruki’s lips when the coat finally released his arms. He placed it to the side, then collapsed in his arm chair like he’d just run a marathon, when he’d really just ran upstairs because he’d caught sight of one of their less likeable neighbours and had wanted to get inside before they could reach the same floor. “You know, the guy down at the garage with the piercings. He told me to say hi to you.”

“That’s called being friendly,” Kai explained slowly, eyeing Ruki warily. “It’s what some people – especially friends – do. Are you okay, you look a little flustered?”

Ruki slapped his hand away impatiently when Kai tried to check his temperature. Honestly. “I’m fine! Sorry I didn’t realise you were befriending the entire staff at the shop, jesus.” He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much, but he felt like it might have something to do with the fact that Kai seemed to be on his soulmate’s side more and more, which was ridiculous because things hadn’t even changed between them, and Aoi didn’t have anything to _do_ with Reita, but he was in a bad mood now and he could be irrational if he wanted to be, damn it.

With a deep, resigned sigh, Kai marked his place in the book before placing it aside. He lifted his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose, then fixed Ruki with such a stern yet patient gaze that he was suddenly reminded of his mother. “Is this about Reita?” The pregnant silence that followed made him groan in exasperation. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I’m inviting them over, you can see they’re both nice guys and then you can move on from… whatever _this_ is.”

How on earth inviting them round could help at all – Ruki already knew they were nice, thanks – Ruki didn’t know, but the traitorous letters on his back tingled at the mere thought of being close to Reita and he decided it wasn’t worth protesting. Although he maintained he most certainly did not want a relationship, perhaps Reita had had a point in that soulmates had a connection for some reason, romantic or not. And he might not know what Reita could possibly do for him, but the words on his body had been giving him more and more issues recently and seemed to call out to Reita, needing him for _something_.

“I’m starting to think that what I want and what I need don’t match up anymore,” Ruki admitted softly, swallowing hard and avoided Kai’s sympathetic stare. “It’s… I still think it’s bullshit. I don’t _want_ him, that hasn’t changed, but… My body apparently does and it’s confusing me and it makes me _angry_ , and he-” He rubbed at his eyes tiredly, his shoulders sagging when Kai appeared beside him and rubbed his back gently. “He doesn’t seem to have that problem, and it’s not _fair_.”

He felt Kai kiss the top of his head and leaned into him, seeking comfort he hadn’t known he needed – which, really, seemed to be a problem in every aspect of his life: clinging onto his wishes rather than admitting that sometimes those weren’t actually the best for him. He wrote about these things, about the love you seek leading to heartbreak, about dreams ruining lives because they arose from the wrong mentality, about people following their instincts rather than their desires – and how rare yet important it is that these match up. His writing, for example, was more than a want: it had always been in his blood.

Ruki exhaled shakily, hating that he was finally letting these thoughts in. “This was meant to be easy...”

Kai’s reply came in the form of a hug and a mutter of how everything would be alright.

**

After Ruki’s breakdown, if it could be classed that way, he had been more than a little embarrassed. Apart from not understanding where all that had even come from – though he had always been brilliant at keeping things inside, ironically – it made him feel weak to have behaved that way in front of another human being. Kai hadn’t done anything to validate this, having treated him with no less respect and kindness since then and managing to keep the pity off his face – if he even felt such a thing. It was his own issue, and one he really should work on, while at the same time working on getting to know his soulmate. He had read up on it, though it hadn’t been very comforting: rejecting a soulmate could be immensely painful and Ruki was starting to understand why people gave in. It was unclear if this was lasting or temporary since there were so few accounts of it, and the ones who had ultimately left their soulmate either refused to speak about it or were silenced in some way. It explained why Ruki had felt so off, at least.

Kai had indeed invited Reita and Aoi over, but Reita had been busy – with what, Ruki told himself he didn’t care –and had asked for a rain check, while Aoi had dropped by with a case of beer and a giant grin on his face. It had been fun, even though (or perhaps because) Ruki didn’t drink and had sat there with a glass of orangina while Kai and Aoi giggled together and exchanged lingering touches to each other’s knees and shoulders. From what Ruki could make out, Aoi had zero interest in a relationship, even outside of soulmates, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy sex (something that became very obvious when he encountered Aoi heading to the bathroom the next morning, wearing Kai’s underwear and nothing else; he had quietly re-entered his bedroom and never spoken of it, but he had never been more grateful that he had fallen asleep with his headphones in). As for Kai… Well, as long as he was enjoying himself, Ruki figured it was okay.

Reita’s absence was getting increasingly frustrating, though. He was finally ready to try his hand at friendship, and the other man was nowhere to be found any longer. No information had been gained from daily visits to the garage either (Kai scolded him about his smoking habits growing atrocious once more; Ruki prayed to whoever was listening that he’d never check the bottom of his wardrobe, where a pile of full packs was taking over the floor), Reita nowhere to be found even on the Saturday. The employee who _was_ present, a sweet-looking girl with purple in her hair, gawked at him nervously when he practically tossed his money at her, apologising after because it wasn’t exactly her fault that Reita wasn’t here.

“He’s visiting his mum,” Aoi said one day when he put Ruki’s purchases in a plastic bag – some milk and ramen and other bits and bobs in addition to the usual. “You know, there are actual supermarkets not too far away. Just saying.”

“Walking with shopping sucks, so I prefer to choose the least distance,” Ruki huffed. “And who’s with his mum? I don’t care what Reita does, it’s his business, not mine.” He clenched his jaw and raised his eyes to the heavens, wanting to smack himself for his stupidity.

Aoi stared at Ruki blankly for a few moments, pausing in his scanning, then shook his head, appearing almost disappointed. “You suck at playing it cool, dude. But before you have an aneurysm: Reita’s mum fell ill so he went to look after her for a couple of days. She’s doing better now, so he’ll be back soon and then you can stop stalking this place.”

“’m not stalking,” Ruki protested.

Aoi snorted and grabbed Ruki’s wrist when he went to take his bags of groceries. “Look, I admire your views on soulmates, because it can’t be easy to resist the temptation in this society, but if it happens, it happens. There’s a difference between not chasing after something and actively resisting it, and if I’m being completely frank, I feel like the two of you would work even without being soulmates.” When Ruki rolled his eyes, Aoi grinned and finally let him go. “We’ll come and see you guys when he’s back, then you’ll see what I mean.”

Ruki seriously doubted this, but decided not to waste his breath. In any case he now knew why he hadn’t seen Reita in a while, and the itching on his back promptly decreased in intensity (so far he had found nothing concrete on the reason for the itchiness). He had thought soulmates were easy in the sense that you could be with them or not, but he’d had no idea there could be side effects of some sort, if that’s what he could call it. It had made him feel better about his feelings towards the other, though, because at least it meant there was a good reason.

By the time Friday night came round, Reita had returned and, true to his word, Aoi had brought him along to see Kai and Ruki, more beer in tow. Ruki sighed inwardly, shutting the door while Aoi was already shouting from the living room and Reita was still in the process of toeing off his shoes. In an effort to… well, make an effort, Ruki gestured at the plastic bag by Reita’s feet, trying to ignore the subtle throbbing on his back due to Reita’s proximity. “Need some help?”

“Ah, no, it’s fine,” Reita said with an easy smile, making Ruki smile back involuntarily. “I’m not much of a drinker, so I brought some stuff along in case you guys didn’t have anything non-alcoholic.”

Ruki wanted to say that they always had water, then simply nodded, pleasantly surprised that he wouldn’t be on his own when dealing with a drunk or tipsy Kai and Aoi this time. “I don’t drink either, so we’ve got some coke in. Though I suppose this works too.”

“I brought muscle milk,” Reita revealed as he followed Ruki.

Ruki stopped in his tracks and gave Reita a _look_. “Muscle- Did you just make that up?”

“He drinks it all the time,” Aoi divulged, sounding almost sad at the thought. He was sat on the floor in front of Kai and fumbling with his first beer, which seemed to be unwilling to open for him. “Seems to think it will give him actual muscles.”

“I already have those,” Reita stated simply, perhaps a little smugly, as he plopped down on the arm chair Ruki usually occupied, leaving Ruki to sit beside Kai and very firmly not picture what was underneath Reita’s clothes. “I drink it because it’s healthy.”

“The name and the fact that it tastes like shit don’t make it healthy,” Aoi replied bluntly, wincing when Kai lightly kicked his side.

“Healthy doesn’t have to be gross,” he reprimanded.

“Is it really that bad?” Ruki asked, all eyes suddenly turning towards him, Aoi looking a little (a lot) mischievous.

“Why don’t you let Ruki try it?” he suggested.

Which was how Ruki ended up nearly choking to death with some of the muscle milk dripping down the front of his shirt. He glanced down at it sadly while the other three laughed their asses off, Reita at least having the decency to look somewhat regretful. He’d liked that shirt too. “How can you drink this?!” he asked, wiping his mouth, genuinely offended that anyone could enjoy this. No taste in clothes – though Reita actually looked quite nice tonight in a grey tank top, his leather jacket carelessly tossed to the floor in a move that had made Ruki want to throw it out the window just so he’d learn his lesson – and now no taste in drinks either. He sighed and excused himself so he could get changed.

Things weren’t… too bad. Apart from the disgusting taste he still had in his mouth – seriously, what the fuck? – and that had dribbled down his front, there had been no real awkwardness, which he was immensely grateful for, considering how he had pictured a next meeting with Reita to go. Where Ruki worried too much, it seemed like Reita simply went with the flow, which made for a good balance. _Soulmates_ , his brain sung, while the tattoo on his back stung pleasantly.

Shaking his head, he quickly threw on something else and returned to the living room, where Aoi was trying to convince a chuckling Kai to drink more – lord _no_ – while Reita watched them with both amusement and fondness in his eyes.

“No, no, no, I have work tomorrow, I can’t be hungover!” Kai protested giddily, though not taking his glass away.

“Then don’t get hungover!” Aoi nodded when he was satisfied with the amount he’d poured. “The trick is to know your limit.”

At this, Reita laughed so hard – and what a nice laugh it unfortunately was – he put the earlier laughter to shame with the sheer enthusiasm. “Says the guy who has _never_ taken that advice.” He turned his attention to Ruki and Kai, grinning widely. “We met in college when he was streaking across campus, screaming about being a superstar and how no one could catch him – and then campus patrol did.”

Kai positively _cackled_ , while Ruki giggled under his breath at the mental image, present-day Aoi yelling something about it being a dare and it not being a big deal and he had been fine in the end, hadn’t he?

“Yeah, because I saved your sorry ass,” Reita teased. He caught Ruki’s eyes and smiled, his eyes twinkling in barely contained glee and fully unaware of Ruki’s inner turmoil at the sight. “I’m the one who bailed him out – mostly because my roommate had a crush on him and begged me to do something. We were friends ever since.”

“Why didn’t your roommate do it?” Kai asked, dimple on display as he waited for the rest of the story while Aoi clawed at Reita’s jeans in a sad attempt to make him shut up.

“Because he was a freshman and too scared and intimidated,” Reita laughed. “Poor kid, too concerned about Aoi’s bad reputation. Everyone thought he was a heartbreaker, but he’s really a big softie.” He shoved Aoi’s hands away and patted his head consolingly while Aoi glared up at him grumpily. “I still don’t get how it worked, because the campus police always assumed I was up to something.”

“Why?” Ruki enquired, curious, much to his own shock.

Reita caught his eyes, his smile falling just a little as he pointed at his noseband. “For starters.”

Ruki averted his gaze, feeling guilty that his words had chosen such a ridiculous place to appear and wondering what Reita’s childhood must have been like because of it. Little kids wouldn’t have understood enough not to make fun and later on, when he hid it – which Ruki assumed he hadn’t always done – he must’ve had even more odd looks. Even from Ruki himself, he noted with a twinge of regret.

“Ruki and I met through a friend,” Kai piped up, possibly sensing the sudden tension. “Our story’s quite boring compared to yours: we got along, moved in together and now here we are.” He shifted in his seat to get comfortable, smiling gently as he watched the two men. “How come you’re both working here?”

“Reita got me the job,” Aoi answered with a shrug. “I got fired from my old place after the boss caught my colleague stealing and blamed me. It’s okay, though, I like working here more. Besides,” he grinned, knocking into Kai’s knees, “we made some new friends this way.”

Kai snickered into his beer, pink dusted across his cheekbones.

**

“I think it’s safe to say Aoi’s gone over his limit again,” Reita said dryly as he and Ruki lounged together on the settee, Kai having moved to the floor with Aoi, who was slurring nonsense against Kai’s neck, his face flushed and was his hand under Kai’s shirt or was Ruki seeing things?

“Same goes for my roommate,” Ruki remarked despondently, pulling a face when Kai tugged on Aoi’s hair and a soft groan left Aoi’s mouth. He loved Kai and all, and the two of them were pretty hot, but he did not need to see this.

“Oh, hey, I’ve been doing some research!”

Ruki dragged his eyes off the two men on the floor and tilted his head at Reita in question. “Research into… what, exactly?”

“Soulmates.” That was worrying. But good to know he wasn’t on his own. “I couldn’t find anything on words disappearing, because it looks like death is usually the cause and no one knows why. Maybe being soulmates just doesn’t mean you’re destined to meet…” He paused in thought, then smiled and continued on. “But what you said about people who are deaf and stuff: there’s not much, but from what I could find, they can still get the words, because they can still be spoken to. They just can’t always hear it, which complicates things. Apparently the main ways are if they notice the colour change or if someone’s with them who hears it.”

This was unexpected. Not so much what Reita told him, since this actually made perfect sense now that he heard it, but the fact that he had gone through the trouble of investigating. “What about…” Ruki bit his lip, trying to ignore the thump of his heart and the prickle in his back. _Soulmates._ “What if they can’t speak?”

“That I don’t know,” Reita replied, sinking into the cushions, his face troubled. “There’s literally nothing on it as far as I can tell.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Ruki grunted, shaking his head in disgust. Typical. “They’re ignored all the time, so why would it be any different in soulmate science?” He knew there were quite a few people who majored in and studied soulmates, yet research remained limited due to certain specific areas lacking general interest, which meant lack of funding and therefore caused many blind spots in the phenomenon. Sometimes Ruki wished he had gone into the field so he could’ve made a difference through his sheer stubbornness, if for no other reason than to be able to explain to Kai that he wasn’t alone and that nothing was wrong. (According to Aoi, he had thought he was broken for a rather long time, which had made Ruki’s heart hurt just a little.)

Ruki placed his fingers over his lips self-consciously when he caught sight of Reita’s smile. “…What?”

Reita chuckled and turned to face Ruki fully, his eyes soft and sweet, making Ruki feel almost precious. “I like how passionate you get about injustice. It’s kind of cute.”

Cute? Out of all the things, he was _cute_? He spluttered in protest, failing to see how getting angry could possibly constitute the utterance of such an adjective to describe him. “I’m not- It’s not cute, I just hate how unfair it is!”

“Because you’re a good friend,” Reita said with a nod. “Kai told me about his background and he said you’ve been a great help to him. …I mean, I’m sure you would’ve felt this way regardless, but I’m guessing his story has contributed to it.”

Ruki shrugged noncommittally, offering an explanation that really wasn’t one. “I don’t like seeing him sad.” He truly didn’t. When they had met, Kai had still had his words (“Have you seen this cat?” – which was actually a good one, in Ruki’s opinion – across his collarbone). Then, a few months later, he had greeted his friends with teary eyes and showed them the sudden unmarked skin. He hadn’t understood and once he started thinking of his soulmate’s death, he had been heartbroken. Ruki had shoved aside his personal feelings on the matter and had done everything in his power to cheer him up, to distract him, to get back the happy, smiley Kai from before, and he liked to think he’d done a reasonable job, especially considering how he really wasn’t the most cheerful person himself. For his friends, he’d do his best.

When that smile appeared on Reita’s face again, a smile with a hint of teeth, eyes wrinkled in the corners, looking as though he had never seen anyone like Ruki before, Ruki quickly leaned forward to pour himself another drink, small shivers running across his back and his heart thumping in a rhythm that was new and familiar and very _Reita_ , yet was most likely still exactly the same.

He didn’t have a crush, not at all. Yet the longer he spent in Reita’s presence, the more he felt like he could (he would). _“Perhaps there’s something to this soulmate business after all,”_ Kaolu had said. Perhaps there was.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had a similar conversation to the first one Reita and Ruki have, which was really the entire premise of this fic (it didn't end the same way for me, though: my soulmate was already waiting for me at home instead). Then I realised I had no idea where to go afterwards until it eventually hit me: I had their first words - soulmate AU! It's honestly one of my favourite tropes so I'm having so much fun writing this.


End file.
